Steve Nash can be weaver of Canada's hoop dreams

Jay Triano, the presumptive choice to coach the suddenly sexy Canadian men's basketball team, wasn't keen to discuss his employment situation, his relation-ship with Basketball Canada or, for that matter, his working friendship with Steve Nash, the newly minted GM of the men's team.

And that's fine. It's accepted that Nash will offer the job to Triano, his former coach, once various entanglements have been ironed out. It's also accepted that Triano is the only logical candidate for the position.

But, on Wednesday, Triano wasn't nearly as reticent about discussing something that's been bothering him, and everyone associated with hoops in this country, for some time.

Since 1988, exactly 12 men have played basketball for Canada at the Olympics and, because the national team didn't qualify for London and 2012, it will be 28 years, at the minimum, before another 12 players wear the Maple Leaf at the Summer Games.

That's one team which has qualified for the Olympics in almost three decades. The good news is that streak could come to an end in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The bad news is that it exists in the first place, and when you add those things together, you begin to understand why Nash, his former national teammate Rowan Barrett and, most likely, Triano will be involved in the preparation for Rio.

"I think that's why Steve got involved," Triano said before speaking at the SFU fundraising breakfast on Wednesday. "He wants to help the young players in this country.

Triano recalled that when Nash and Barrett, the new assistant general manager, played for him at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, "there were issues with Basketball Canada, as there are with all amateur sports in this country. They'd sit around and say, 'This isn't right. When we're done, we've got to do something to change this.'

"I think it's really honourable those two guys have stepped forward and want to make a change for the next generation."

And this generation could be changing a lot of things for basket-ball in this country.

Nash and Barrett have assumed control of a program which, owing to a remarkable pool of young talent, is fairly pregnant with potential. The Canadian team which attempts to qualify for Rio could have on its roster: Tristan Thompson, the fourth overall pick by Cleveland in last summer's NBA draft; Cory Joseph, San Antonio Spurs first-rounder from 2011; Andrew Nicholson and Kris Joseph, who could go in the first round of this summer's draft; North Van's Robert Sacre, who could go in the second round; Myck Kabongo, a projected first-rounder in 2013; and prep star Andrew Wiggins, widely regarded as the top NCAA recruit in the class of 2014.

Triano, who's still the Toronto Raptors VP of pro scouting following his dismissal as the NBA team's head coach last offseason, declined to comment on any players specifically.

How about in general?

"I'm really excited about this group," he said.

The challenge now becomes integrating that talent into the nation-al team, which is where Nash and Triano come in. Basketball Canada, unfortunately, has an uneven history of fitting elite players into the program. Longtime NBA player Jamal Magliore has consistently refused entreaties to play for Canada. Samuel Dalembert suited up in the run-up to 2008 and was subsequently booted off the team by then head coach Leo Rautins. Even Nash sat out the last two rounds of Olympic qualifying for Canada.

But Nash was there in 2000, one of the 12, leading the Triano-coached Canadians to a 5-2 record in the Olympic tournament. He's always regarded that experience as a tipping point in his basketball career and a richly satisfying personal moment. Now, he'll try to draw others into the fold and Basketball Canada is betting all that young talent will have a hard time saying no to a future Hall-of-Famer.

"[Nash] said playing for Canada was the best time of his life," said Triano. "He's extremely passionate about this. When he knocks on your door and asks you to play for your country, a lot more Canadian kids will listen to what he has to say."

And basketball fans in this country will be listening right along with him.

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